Listen to this article

What do you think?

Please tell us why (optional)

Sienna Miller

A landmark year for Miller, who starred in two Oscar-nominated films, smeared on the greasepaint as Sally Bowles in Cabaret on Broadway, and performed her official duties as a Cannes juror without a style mis-step. Burberry, Victoria Beckham, Stella McCartney and Marc Jacobs all benefited from the Miller effect, but it was in directional Céline that she really shone: starting with that stripe knit dress she wore on the Tonight Show in January, which sold out everywhere shortly thereafter.

JJ Abrams

Entrusted to revive the Star Wars franchise, the 49-year-old director, screenwriter, composer and actor dresses not unlike his mentor the director Steven Spielberg, to whom Abrams dedicated his 2011 movie Super 8; heavy-framed spectacles, preppy shirts and suits and a thatch of unruly hair. Abrams’ look, though, has slightly higher production values: the shirts are steam-pressed and the suits are snappy, befitting the polished times we live in. One sartorial tic remains typically old-school, however: a cap emblazoned with the title of his upcoming production.

Lineisy Montero

The 19-year-old model from the Dominican Republic made her debut at Prada in March, where she was signed on an exclusive contract. The fashion world has been clamouring for her ever since. She walked 68 shows for SS16, where her short natural Afro and aristocratic poise made her one of the most distinctive faces. Whether wearing sculptural Proenza Schouler, Prada paillettes or off-duty denims, Montero has a rare grace that recalls the early-1990s supermodels. Watch her soar in 2016.

Quique Sánchez Flores

The incoming Premiership coach arrived at Watford FC in June, introducing Spanish swagger, an aspirational salt-and-pepper beard and a magnificent sweater collection to the bench. The nephew of a flamenco dancer and the son of a footballer, Flores’s easy elegance — monotonal layering, crew-neck T-shirt, closely wrapped scarf and noble, bloodhound-eyed intensity — is an essay in sporting élan. It’s a style that’s translating on to the pitch: at the time of writing Watford had ascended halfway up the league table.

Xin Li

The 39-year-old deputy chairman of Christie’s Asia Pacific stands at 6ft in her slippers, is a former professional basketball player and once walked the catwalk for Yves Saint Laurent. Her Asian clients account for 27 per cent of Christie’s sales, and her influence helped it set a record in art sales in the first half of 2015 ($4.5bn). Brett Gorvy, chairman and international head of postwar and contemporary art at Christie’s, describes her as a “force of nature!” Fluent in English and Mandarin, she does it all in curve-skimming silhouettes and short-sheath gowns that showcase her incredibly long, lithe limbs. We’re sold.

News of Raf Simons’ departure from Dior was keenly felt throughout the industry, but especially by Lawrence, who has been the face of Simons’ fresh, modern vision for the house since January 2014 (when she signed a three-year contract worth an estimated $20m). “I just want him to be happy . . . but I will miss those clothes,” said the 25-year-old actress of his decision. Not as greatly as we’ll miss the sight of her wearing — and frequently tripping over — them.

Marlon James

With his dreadlocks, sweats and Adidas hoodies, James is just as arresting in person as his powerful patois-driven prose. He claimed the Booker prize in October for A Brief History of Seven Killings. He killed it in the style stakes, too.

Léa Seydoux

Bond’s girl and Prada’s candy, the pulpeuse French actress doesn’t so much wear clothes as inhabit them. Styled by her sister, an eminently sensible decision, she often opts for dramatic colour but keeps the cuts classic and the accessories spare. Her primrose-coloured Prada gown, which she wore to the Baftas with a scarlet lip and her hair set in 1940s Hollywood-style waves, was a masterclass in modern goddess chic. We humbly worship.

Harry Styles

Was there ever a better union than that shared between the sexually adventurous, louche androgyny of Alessandro Michele’s Gucci and Harry Styles? With his long, tousled hair, baby face and apparent ease in a wallpaper floral jacquard suit, Styles has proven the perfect mannequin for Michele’s new vision at the Kering-owned house.

The 20-year-old model member of the Kardashian clan had more than a little competition in the style stakes this year: most if it from within her own family. Her father Bruce transitioned into the Donna Karan-sheathed Caitlyn and stole every headline in the universe; her two-year-old niece North West became a street-style icon in Yeezy sweats and Balmain blazers; and half-sister Kim broke the internet (again) when portraits of her lying prone, pregnant and wearing a flesh-coloured body-stocking were shot by Juergen Teller for System magazine. Throughout all this, however, Jenner amassed more likes on Instagram than anyone ever and starred in 25 fashion shows. With her lean-limbed athleticism, downtown glamour and glossy good looks she is unquestionably adorable, but her greatest asset is the air of normalcy and calm she brings to the weirdness that surrounds her.

Thomas Heatherwick

The birdlike British designer, best known for his Olympic cauldron and reimagining of the Routemaster bus, secured financial backing for his garden bridge — which will span the Thames between Temple and the South Bank — and unveiled plans for the spectacular, ergonomic Google headquarters in Mountain View, California. In person, with his jaunty neckerchiefs, Fair Isle knits and labourer’s shirts, he recalls one of DH Lawrence’s bucolic heroes.

Doona Bae

Nicolas Ghesquière’s muse, and one of the inspirations (along with Tron and Minecraft) behind his SS16 show, the South Korean actress has long captivated cinematographers with her quirky style and doe-eyed expression. The perfect ambassador for the Louis Vuitton creative’s futuristic yet feminine vision, she wears Ghesquière’s bold designs with unwavering confidence and personal flair.

François Hollande

Once mocked for his ill-fitting suits and ineptness at tie-fastening, the president of France has done much to quell his critics since taking office in 2012. This year, Hollande has navigated the political tide with panache, steadying tempers at the all-night Greek summit in July and nerves in the face of two terrorist attacks in Paris, while looking impeccable in a tailored suit and pristine shirt. There’s much to commend his habit of matching his suit and his tie.

Justin Bieber

In the year that everyone (even you) became a Belieber, the Canadian pop moppet inveigled his way on to the best-dressed list for his ability to dress so badly. So badly he looked quite brilliant. He’s sorry. We’re not.

The angel-faced progeny of Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis turned 16, made three films (slated for release next year) and was adopted as a muse at Chanel, where she walked in the couture show. Off-duty, she dresses down her designer cachet with stonewashed denims and Dr Martens, not unlike her mother (who also loves the stonewash and was cast in her first Chanel ad at much the same age). Fabulous cheekbones never fall far from the tree.

Benjamin Clementine

Anyone who can pull off a plum-coloured velvet smoking jacket and a high-necked turtleneck deserves some respect. The singer, poet and pianist picked up a Mercury award in November for his debut album At Least For Now, but it’s his razor-sharp cheekbones and mournful romantic deportment that has sent fashion editors into raptures. Expect to see him in a Prada campaign any minute.

Dakota Johnson

Fifty shades of whatever . . . The 26-year-old Texan actress only really arrived in September, while promoting A Bigger Splash and Black Mass at the Venice Film Festival. Briefly unshackled from her role as the submissively mousy Anastasia Steele of the soft-porn series, Johnson smoked up the red carpet in embellished Marc Jacobs, poppy-printed Rodarte and an extremely saucy, long, blush-coloured backless dress from Prada.

Alessandro Michele

Part-designer, part-shaman, the 43-year-old Gucci creative director looks like no other. With his floral suits, fragrant, flowing hair (believe me, I smelled it) and be-ringed fingers (a compulsive collector, he wears fistfuls of antique rings on every finger), Michele has taken the fashion industry by storm — in practice and in person. His unapologetic personal style is both brilliant and bewitching: like Gandalf’s wayward, Technicolor grandson. All that’s missing from his look is a swirly wizard’s staff.

Patti Smith

Another style icon with a distinctly Tolkien-like appearance, the 68-year-old poet, singer and author smashed it at Glastonbury, where she completed a tour of her 1975 album Horses (and presented the Dalai Lama with a birthday cake), inducted Lou Reed into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and released a second memoir, M Train, in which she captured her life in transit, her married years with Fred “Sonic” Smith, and the dreamy melancholia of a writer’s torpor. She did the lot in her essentially androgynous uniform: white shirt, poet coat and shiny black combat boots, and wild silver mane. Perfection.

The only royal who can reliably upstage the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince Harry’s public appearances alongside his brother and sister-in-law have supercharged the Windsors’ sartorial appeal. It’s the beard. It’s the affable ease with which he conducts his duties. It’s the whip-smart suits and ceremonial uniforms. And it’s the devilish grin that maketh this man.

Hillary Clinton

She may struggle to command the centre-left, her voters may swing and her charm levels still need finessing. But her pantsuits have never looked better. Best in a dark block colour (and worn with a statement pearl), ideally cut to flatter that awkward area below the knee, Hillary’s gradual evolution into political glamourpuss has not been without its hiccups, but she outclasses the other candidates in style and substance every time.

Derek Zoolander and Hansel

Their double turn at Valentino AW15 in March was only one catwalk, but in a few short steps the model alter egos of Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson stole the season. Fourteen long years after having launched “Blue Steel” upon the world, the stunt commenced the campaign that now attends Zoolander 2 (which opens in February). Dressed in bespoke Hawaiian by designers Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli, the intervening years may have burnished those really, really ridiculously good looking faces, but no matter. They’re so hot right now.

George Osborne

The decision to commend the chancellor’s pre-election makeover has not been without detractors: many of whom find the newly slimline, shorn-haired version 2.0 a little too Action Man to be entirely convincing. But his efforts to shake off that rather porcine mien that is the fate of so many Tory ministers deserves to be applauded. We’re also all in favour of his dark green ties.

As seen in plastic horns, philanthropic T-shirts, eyewear and knitted bow-ties, oversized parkas and, sometimes, a knotted scarf, Marc Jacobs’ canine companion has proven one of the most faithful brand ambassadors in fashion. At the time of writing, the bull terrier commanded more than 179,000 followers on Instagram, was on the cover of Paper magazine and was demonstrating a rare flair for this season’s turtleneck trend. All clothes model’s own, of course.

James Corden

He’s shed a few pounds and spraunced up his suits since assuming his role as host on the Late Late Show, but the LA transfer hasn’t stripped Britain’s own James Corden of his trademark cheeky-lad style. The jackets are still a little snug, the shirts a bit shabby, and the laugh unashamedly sonic. And thank God for that. Corden’s sartorial high in 2015: strutting the Burberry catwalk alongside Naomi Campbell in Los Angeles in April wearing a tuxedo and tartan scarf.

Julianne Moore

That hair, that smile, those yoga-hewn legs, that majestic bosom . . . By rights, Moore should top style lists every year — whether she’s in Saint Laurent fatigues, Tom Ford sequins or velvet Givenchy, she never looks less than perfect. And so utterly herself. 2015, with its Oscar, promotional appearances and star turn at the Chanel couture casino, proved a timely reminder of her sartorial awesomeness. At 55, she’s the woman who shows the kids how its done.

Colin Farrell

A stellar year for the 39-year-old Dubliner, who stole the second series of True Detective from under Vince Vaughn’s nose and turned the moustache into a viable fashion statement. So successful was his facial adornment, it starred again in the critically acclaimed movie The Lobster, in a role he accessorised with an impressive paunch and an oily raincoat, and still managed to look tremendously attractive. Now shorn, and incredibly svelte, his wardrobe usually includes an odd quirk — unlooped infinity scarf, scoop-necked T, Peaky Blinder cap. But, with a face like that, who gives a damn?

Justin Trudeau

Were Canadians the most stylish people on the planet this year? Maybe. And first among them was the newly elected liberal prime minister Trudeau, 43. Sexy politics, sexy suits and an adorable family with whom to accessorise; the telegenic Trudeaus even feature in the current issue of US Vogue. Very Camelot.